


Train Tracks

by Amoridere



Series: Stand Alones [4]
Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Archive warnings will come later, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Foster Care, Homelessness, Ill Girl, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, On Hiatus, Resentments, Slum, Smoking, Summary will come later, Trailer park, abandoned houses, really really slow updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4407929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amoridere/pseuds/Amoridere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Might add more onto this chapter when I have the time.</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. Before The Train Tracks

Our lives before was what one would call "ideal" or "normal". It was also a very happy life and we had a very loving family. Of course, our lives before are no more than painful fading memories of what was.

We lived relatively comfortable is rather lower middle class money was tight but we were content. Generally we didn't ask for much. Our home was not in the safest place though but it didn't matter as no place is safe. In my opinion, it was beautiful despite being not too far from a slum. We lived in an area where train tracks crossed through. Of course, there was no wrong side of the tracks, as neither side was perfect, no, and it was just tracks. I recall the sound of the train going by to be a lullaby as a we had often fallen asleep to it.

Satsuki is the second oldest, yes, and she came into this world shortly after I was adopted, when I was about six or seven years old. Minjonet (or, Min, if not Minnie, for short), as I recall naming her, for her blue eyes, is shorter than me with blue eyes and raven hair. She's short for her age, then again, she is a slow grower. She's brave one she is and hardly even expresses otherwise. Up until then, I was just street urchin, more or less, who was always getting into some bit of trouble. I never had a or anything to call a little sibling until I was taken into a children's home and then later adopted. It wasn't too hard to get used to her.

Ryuuko came next. She, like Min, is short for her age, and possess blue eyes, however, unlike her, she has a shock of blood-auburn in her hair. She was also born a fighter, as she was born sick, and continues to be one. I recall Ragyou nicknaming her "Magnilde" because of her fighter nature, however, I prefer "Maggie" and Min calls her "Ryuu", either of which she responds to. It wasn't too hard to get used to her either, actually, it was harder to get used to her absence than her presence, as she was almost always with us.

Nui came last and I nicknamed her "Marigold", a flower that, despite its sunny and almost cheerful appearance, symbolizes sorrow, for reasons that seem just, as, through no fault of her own, she was born at an exceptionally bad time, as Ragyou fell into postpartum depression and never came out of it. With Soichiro being at work all the time and with her drinking, smoking, and being twice addicted to crack, I was left to take care of them. I resent them both for that because they made our lives harder.

Of course, at times, if I didn't resent them, then I pitied them. They used to be such a happy couple, yes, but, now, all they did is give each other beatings, especially when she's had too much. He used to take them, of course, however, after some time, the dog bit back and he gave her what she gave him, leaving our once lovely home and ourselves decrepit. Did they love us anymore? I don't know but they barely showed it, actually, Ragyou seemed to resent ever bringing the three into the world and Soichirou seemed to be indifferent, except for when she had too much and started to dole out hits, in which case, he hit back.

To some degree, Soichiro did care, as he often told us, when she started, was to not get between them as it only made it worse. Of course, Nui knew this by instinct but Satsuki and Ryuuko did not. Maggie otherwise was normal, it was the fact that she could barely walk and had truly started to by the time she was almost three and that milestone was pushed back later when one of Ragyou's blows sent her flying. In Satsuki's case, she was struck with a beer bottle and was landed with a concussion. It took me hours to explain away the injuries, leaving me to feel guilty for not contacting child services.

Once, I did decide to disregard the advice and was whacked with a candle, receiving a second degree burn, which left behind a scar when healed. I've had enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Escape

We had fled that house, with Nui asking, "Why can't we stay home?" She was too young to comprehend and I have no recollection of how old we were but I did know that Rei was much older than us, yet, like us three, she was still a child. We had reason to leave and Rei couldn't stand it anymore, no, she couldn't and, after some time of feeling powerless and wanting no more than to put an end to it. 

Of course, that wasn't the wisest course of action, getting between  _them._ She was told, like the rest of us, to get under the table and not between them, as it'll only make it worse. She refused and was given a second degree burn by  _her,_ leaving behind a scar she wanted no more than to cover up, yet, bravely, she displayed. It was a reminder and  _she_  used it as such. Like Rei, once,  we, Ryuuko and I, did get caught in the crossfire. Nui was spared and, by "spared", she didn't receive the worst of treatment. I will have preferred neglect to being abused. 

Rei couldn't deal with it anymore, especially after that  incident, and, one night, whispered, "We have to get out of here."  She was on to something, nevertheless, as living there will have eventually killed us, with Rei's asthma, Nui's anemia, Ryuuko's terrible immune system, and my injury-induced epilepsy. Naturally, we saw no reason not to listen to her, as neither of us wanted to stay there and allow that house to be our resting places. 

Taking what we could carry, we fled, never again to return.  However, escaping is all well and good but Rei didn't come up with where we should go and how we were to ever get by. Typically, I would question this, yet, because Rei knew the streets, I did not. We ran as far as we could before taking refuge in an abandoned house.  We couldn't turn back.

When we got there, Ryuuko promptly asked, "Okay, where are we going to go now?" Before giving a response, Rei dreamily stared up at the stars and then at the train tracks, before saying, "We'll follow the train tracks and see where they take us." Usually, one would discount this as silly advice but, as we would find out, she was right for leading us.


	3. Snow

**Music playing: "** _[Broken Wings (Piano)"](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qucxc_d-n-angel-amv-broken-wings-piano-version_auto)  _ by Tomoko Tane 

* * *

 After spending a few nights in that abandoned house, I decided to take us into the direction of where the tracks were going. The tracks always lead out of that desolate place and following them did land me here with my sisters and Mr. and Mrs. Kiryuuin. This place and all that surrounded was offered very little for us besides more years of an unpleasant existence. I didn't know how long we would walk or how long the journey would be but it is clear that there would be journey, a journey to a better life.  

We knew this journey would be difficult on us but we had to leave. As we followed the train tracks,  Ryuuko, clinging to her red blanket, wrapping it tighter around herself, stopped to absently notice the snow falling. She looked so little amidst that falling snow. From her sad blue eyes flowed tears, her bitter memories returning.  Usually, the snow made her happy  but not this time, instead, she cried. She knew this place offered so little and her heart shattered more as she recalled once happier times. 

While the snow reminded her of happier times, it used to make this place sparkle. It wasn't doing that, no,  actually, I associated it with bitter suffering, like the stinging pain of frostbite on broken heart. Of course, it also reminded me of how similar our circumstances were to the ones I've read in books, as, here we were, little child vagrants with little where to go stuck in the winter. 

Seeing Maggie, wrapped in her red blanket, standing there made me realize that, while we must leave this place, we have nowhere to go and my fears were further realized in that we could die before we even obtain a better life. 

Should we die, then I hope that its a peaceful and painless one.


	4. "I wanna go home!"

We walked a while before finding a stopped train with an open car. Since we couldn't think of walking anymore and it would take to days on foot to get out of this cursed place, along with not being able to carry Ryuuko any further, we decided it would be best  to hitch a ride. As it was pulling off. we hurried onto it before being noticed.  Ryuuko didn't mind, as  she was too sleepy to notice, and Satsuki wasn't complaining, yet Nui insisted that we'd go back home.  I wanted to take her back home but our parents were the reason we fled in the first place.

"Nui," I said, trying to calm her. "we cannot go back  there and, someday, you'll understand why we can't go back." Ryuuko, Rei, and I were no strangers to what was going on, yet we couldn't explain it to her. Nui hasn't quite known abuse but she has known neglect and, in her mind, it was kindness. At least, she stayed innocent to it all.  Innocence is a gift that must not be taken for granted, although it isn't doing anything for us in this case. That gift of innocence wasn't taken from her but  Satsuki and Ryuuko are a bit too corrupted to be considered truly innocent, although, the latter, being younger than the former, does display some lack of understanding with her actions 

Throughout the night and unto the morning, she insisted we'd go back but, when her cries fell on deaf ears, she stopped and just cried, asking if Ragyou and Soichiro loved us anymore, to which I responded, "Sometimes, people love their kids but they still hurt them. They love us, maybe deep within, but they have too many of their own problems to properly show it, so they hurt us and don't realize it or, maybe they do, but realize they can't stop themselves, in which case, we have to leave."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might add more onto this chapter when I have the time.


	5. Stray Dogs

Naturally, stray dogs are known for clustering in odd areas and areas where trains come and go would be strange.  Maggie didn't think it to be strange, actually, she thought the idea of a dog being around to be fun and liked the thought of petting them. "Aren't we stray dogs, too?" I supposed we were, in away, except we were human but we didn't have a place to call our own. Logically, we wouldn't be called "strays" despite fitting that description, rather we'd be considered "runaways", as we are stray children who have run away. Either way, Ryuuko, being so young didn't quite grasp this sort of logic, as we weren't tied down and neither did we, at the moment, have a home.

I suppose we would think that we're "puppies" rather because dogs are full grown; I told her this and she just laughed. Min eyeballed her weird and then looked at me, as if to ask, "What did you do?" Maggie hadn't laughed in a while, much less smiled but she seemed to like the the idea of being stray dogs, while Min was confused as hell. She pointed to me and said, accusingly, "You did something." before walking around shaking her head. 

That night, with Min giving me a weird look, we curled up, struggling to stay warm , like stray dogs in a dog pile, on the train car.


End file.
